Making strides: Findings from an SSI focused STEM professional development project

Understanding STEM Through Integrated Contexts in Everyday Life (USTRIVE) is a four-year, NSF funded project with the aim to address inequities in STEM education by fostering culturally responsive and innovative STEM pedagogies. Collaborating with four universities and a regional consortium, the project targets 7th through 12th grade STEM classrooms in high need urban communities. USTRIVE focuses on SocioScientific Issues (SSI) and SocioTransformitive Constructivism (sTc) to integrate real world social justice topics into STEM education. The project involves thorough professional development for teachers, focusing on instruction design and delivery, and SSI implementation, aimed to enhance pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and empower students to become STEM- literate citizens. Research has shown that USTRIVE’s PD has positively impacted teacher confidence, cultural awareness, and ability to incorporate SSI into their lessons, leading to increased student engagement and critical thinking. There are still challenges that teachers face while integrating discursive elements into the classrooms and overcoming curricular barriers. Ongoing research continues to explore USTRIVE’s impact on teacher leadership and student development as capable agents of social change.